Divergent Movies Ranked: Best to Worst

I rank the three Divergent movies on how well each one tells its own story, how clearly it uses its world and how much its ending pays off, and I treat box office as context rather than a score. This is opinion, and audience and critic aggregate numbers play no part in it. The grosses come from Box Office Mojo, and the rest comes from watching the films against one another.

1. Divergent (2014), directed by Neil Burger. The first film is the best because its setup is the most patient and the most specific. Its five factions (Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite) are each explained through a single virtue, and the aptitude test scene, where Tori quietly changes Beatrice's record and tells her to hide the result, gives the plot a secret to carry. The choosing ceremony, where Beatrice leaves her family for Dauntless, is the strongest sequence in the series. At 140 minutes it is also the longest, but it still earned about $289 million worldwide on an $85 million budget. Tom Holkenborg wrote the score, and Ellie Goulding's "Beating Heart" and "Dead in the Water" sit on the soundtrack. You can read more on the divergent 2014 page.

2. Insurgent (2015), directed by Robert Schwentke. The second film is faster and tighter, at 119 minutes, and I think it is better than its reputation. Jeanine Matthews declares martial law and hunts the Divergent, the group shelters with Amity, and a mysterious box that only a Divergent can open gives the chase a clear object. It also has the stronger soundtrack, with M83 featuring Haim, Royal Blood and Woodkid featuring Lykke Li among the songs, and Joseph Trapanese scored it after replacing Junkie XL. Paradoxically, it made the most money of the series, about $297 million worldwide, yet its $110 million budget leaves it with a thinner margin than Divergent (2014). See the insurgent movie page for the details.

3. Allegiant (2016), also directed by Robert Schwentke. The third film ranks last because it asks the audience to follow the characters beyond the wall without giving the new setting the same care that the first film gave Chicago. It grossed about $179 million worldwide on the same $110 million budget, the weakest return of the three. Allegiant was also the first half of a planned two part finish, with the final film to be titled Ascendant. Tove Lo's "Scars" is the notable song on its soundtrack. Start with the allegiant movie page if you want the specifics.

Why did the series stop at three? Allegiant performed weakly, and Ascendant was moved to a TV movie after it, according to Slashfilm. Author Veronica Roth has said the planned final film will never be made, as an interview carried on Yahoo reports. Lionsgate's plans for a last film were scrapped, so the trilogy of films ends without a conclusion. Details on that sit on the divergent ascendant page.

Which should you watch first? If you are new to the series, watch Divergent (2014) and decide from there, because it works as a story even if you stop. The full sequence is laid out in the divergent movies in order guide, and the where to watch divergent page shows what is streaming in the US, UK and Australia. For the money behind each ranking, see the divergent box office page, and for the people on screen, the divergent cast and divergent characters pages.